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Doing Everything from the Carpet: Part Two
"What in the name of Valeria are THESE fellers doing around my alcove!?" Nekhas hissed to himself as he gazed at the terrible congregation of Royalist soldiers in the open area some distance in front of where Nekhas sat in the cliff aclove. In the slightly chilly desert night, the otherwise dark rocky area was warmly lit by a number of small kindled bonfires that were set up around the area. Seated around these fires were Valerian soldiers roasting hunks of meat by rotating skewers of animal flesh above the fire with metal spits. In short, what was originally Nekhas' personal hiding spot, now became a barbecue party area for the Royalist soldiers. In the distance, Nekhas spotted Private First-Class Smithers who waved at him enthusiastically. So it was you... Smithers... You just had to go tell everyone about my secret spot... Nekhas thought bitterly, until he saw two persons following the private from behind. "Oh shit," Nekhas whispered as he realised that the Queen of Valeria, escorted by the Captain of the Vanguard, Sir Edmund, was following the grinning Smithers. Hurriedly, Nekhas grabbed his manuscripts and hastily shoved them into his bag. If they read these manuscripts I can kiss my life on Alcestia goodbye, Nekhas thought uneasily. After securing his bag of writings with a length of thick rope, Nekhas dusted his cloak and prepared himself to receive the Queen of Valeria. "Good Evening, Master Nek... err... Needham!" Smithers greeted Nekhas cheerfully and then bowed deeply. "I apologise for not being able to keep my promise about 'not telling the Valerian fellers' about you. You see, the Queen commanded me to speak about you and your wherabouts..." "Your Majesty, this good sir here is the Master Needham who magnanimously wrote for the Valerian Royal Vanguard, the Notes on the Alathorn Plaque and the Impressions on the Thruweld Throne Room," Smithers bowed even more deeply after turning to face the Queen. Err... What do I do next? Oh yes, I should start genuflecting right now, Nekhas thought. In slow but crisp movements, Nekhas rested his right knee on the floor and genuflected deeply before the Queen. "I am Elgaron Needham of Valeria. How may I be of service, Your Majesty?" Nekhas recited as he cringed in his genuflection. I can't believe I'm doing this...! Nekhas thought painfully. "You may rise, Master Needham," Nekhas heard the Queen's firm voice from above and rose up from his display of subservience. "I have read your report on the Thruweld Throne Room. It is a very detailed analysis - verbose as it may be." Nekhas smiled bitterly in silence at the Queen's thorny comment. He also heard a soft snigger that seemed to come from Sir Edmund. "Further considering the immense assistance your other report gave to Sir Edmund for the Armory, who might have otherwise horribly failed in his quest," the Queen continued, causing Sir Edmund to flinch. "I deem that your opinion regarding our tactics, to capture the Throne Room, to be of value to us. Now, speak. Let me and Sir Edmund hear your thoughts on the matter." "Of course, my Lord..." Nekhas bowed awkwardly, took a few steps back and cleared his throat. "Based on my analysis of the reliefs in the ruins, I am quite certain that the throne of Thralmundar is enchanted with a powerful paralysis hex that cannot be easily dispelled..." The Queen nodded and spoke, "Though there is a possibility that that might not actually be the case, we shall assume that that is the case, tentatively. You may continue." "Yes... I believe we can leverage on the power of the throne to set up a trap. Has your Majesty heard of a substance of the name 'Ectoplasm'?" The Queen shook her head and looked at her aide. "I know not of such a substance. Do you, Edmund?" Sir Edmund shrugged. "I don't know what this Ectoplasm does, but I'm sure I've heard of it being used by the alchemists." Nekhas nodded as he spoke. "Well, to put it simply. Ectoplasm is a conductor of arcane currents. In other words, it can spread the effect of an enchantment it is in contact with as long as the fluid is in contact with the source of the enchantment, and another arcane vessel.” Stepping towards a large cloth bundle, Nekhas drew out a small glass flask that contained a colourless, fluid. “I just found out recently that the boiled essence of desert shark livers actually hydrolyse Ectoplasm quickly. What this means is that it makes Ectoplasm flow more easily, allowing its effects to be spread much further…” “So you mean to make use of the powerful paralysis hex of the throne… through the use of this Ectoplasm…? Intriguing…” the Queen mused, arms folded as she lightly tapped her index finger on her right arm. “If that’s the case, heading into the throne room will be to our boon should this plan work out. The only problem is how to set these things up before Belial gets the wind of things…” Sir Edmund muttered, scratching his ginger mane. “Hmm… That is truly an obstacle… It would be hard to believe that Belial didn’t station a familiar near the throne room just to keep watch of our movements. What say you, Master Needham?” Nekhas scratched his sweat drenched hair and thought for a moment before speaking. “I believe I heard that the Mundus Oculus suffered quite major losses during the skirmish at the ruins’ treasury? If that is truly the case, they might not react to our entry to the throne room that quickly.” The Queen shook her head firmly after listening. “No… It would be too risky to believe that. Sending a spy to their camp would take too long. Have you got other ideas?” Nekhas hesitated briefly. He did have an idea, though he had a bad feeling that if he said it, he might be beaten up by Sir Edmund and be hauled to the dungeons. For now, he decided to test the waters. “I actually do, your Highness. But I am afraid that this idea might be quite disrespectful… To the nation and all…” Nekhas eventually muttered, shifting his gaze away from the two nobles. “Oh? That is interesting. Let us hear it,” the Queen spoke in an amused voice as Nekhas slightly returned her gaze to the two. The Queen had a rather bemused expression, while Sir Edmund was keeping his watch on Nekhas suspiciously. “Well… Forgive my disrespectfulness, but… I think we might deceive the Mundus Oculus, if… if… I donned your armour and headed into the throne room in your stead,” Nekhas nervously said. “You insolent!” Sir Edmund boomed as he stepped towards Nekhas swiftly, and reached out his gauntleted hand towards Nekhas’ throat. But knight’s steel clad fingers just fell short of Nekhas’ neck. After backing away a few steps, Nekhas realised that the Queen had stopped Sir Edmund’s advance with one arm raised. “Control yourself, Sir Edmund. Is such conduct proper, for the Captain of the Royal Vanguard?” The Queen’s voice was stern and cold. After a moment of silence, Sir Edmund relaxed his aggressive posture. “But your Highness…” the knight tried to protest. “Enough already,” the Queen waved away the knight’s words with her hand. Folding her arms, her strict expression softened and eventually broke into one of great amusement. “Ha ha ha ha! That’s the first time I ever had someone ask to wear my armour!” the Queen laughed to herself. “You, Master Needham… Ha ha! Your ideas remind me of Uncle Shahab’s tactics. Those were the best…” “Your Highness… mentioning the Conspirer’s…” Sir Edmund hurriedly cut in. “I get it already. But I’m the Queen of Valeria. I say what I want,” the Queen plainly said as she eventually calmed down from her laughter. “Anyway, thanks to your suggestion, Master Needham, I have thought of an even greater tactic… Listen well. What if I had you… and Lady Blue wear my armour and have replicas of the Miseltaine…? That way, the Belphegor would be thoroughly confounded.” “I don’t think that’s a good idea your Highness… Considering the Lady’s overbearing personality… How about I take her place instead?” Sir Edmund suggested. The Queen casually rejected Sir Edmund’s proposal in a matter-of-fact manner. “That will not do, Sir Edmund. You are far too large.” “Ugh…” Sir Edmund groaned painfully. “Then have I no other role to take, your Highness? Will the Captain of the Royal Vanguard have to wait like a sitting duck as the Belphegor sallies forth with his daemonic army to ambush the Queen?” After Sir Edmund’s emotional speech, the Queen replied plainly. “Of course not. You will be assigned a very important role. You see… we want the Belphegor to think he’s ambushing us. To impede that, we use the power of the throne. That’s where you come in, Sir Edmund. The moment the enemy is paralyzed by the throne’s power, the Royal Vanguard shall charge into the room and flank the Mundus Oculus from behind.” When the Queen was done speaking, Sir Edmund only gazed at the Queen blankly, as though he had been thoroughly surprised by her idea. “Of course… Why didn’t I think of that…?” the knight eventually muttered. “You couldn’t have, Sir Edmund. I’m the Queen of Valeria, after all,” the Queen proudly said as she folded her arms. Nekhas only stared wearily at the two. Well, I guess there’s no point in trying to be better than the Queen, so I guess I’ll play along, he thought and started to clap his hands lightly. *** “Hm… Perhaps bringing you along was a bad idea after all… Lady Blue,” the Queen of Valeria spoke while marching side by side with a taller person fully clad in armour which bore the same design as the Queen’s. “You are far too tall…” “Be that, as it may, I must say that fur padded gorgets are surprisingly comfortable, despite the hot weather, my Queen. This foray into new apparel has not been for naught!” the Lady of Blue happily said from her great helmet as she strutted alongside the Queen of Valeria through the dusty stone hewed vestibule. “Don’t you agree, Master Needham?” Lady Blue said, turning to look at Nekhas. “Of course. It… It is truly an honour to wear the furs of your personal collection, Lady Blue…” Nekhas said and bowed, to which the lady started laughing to herself pompously. “Ho ho! It seems that you have a refined taste then… for pear scented stoat pelts…” Nekhas followed the two behind wearily, amidst the clinking sounds of the plate armour he wore and the incessant chattering of Lady Blue. He wondered to himself how the two women were able to take the draining heat and stuffiness of this underground labyrinth, on inside the closely formed ranks of the elite Valerian soldiers of the Royal Vanguard. But Nekhas knew they were reaching the throne room, for the long corridor began to debouch into a larger, circular hall. At the far end of the hall were large, metal double doors of bronze on which were intricately carved reliefs that seemed to depict various drawings of humans and strange creatures as if they were meant to tell a tale of an unknown past. ..... ...... ........ .... The final battle was fought – the final battle was won... But.... Nekhas looked about him, in the grand throne room suspended in absolute stillness... The queen had Misteltain driven up Belial's throat. Lady Blue was recovering from striking three crawling chimera; the Royal Vanguard was frozen in the stance of impaling the flanked Oculi troops with their pikes and lances... Sir Edmund was locked in his motion of beheading a behemoth. Private Smithers was in the process of rescuing a fallen soldier... The world was frozen. But Nekhas eventually exhaled and twiddled his toes under his metal sabatons. “What the hell is going on...!?”